Cable clamp



J. J. TAYLOR I CABLE CLAMP Feb. 38,1936,

Filed July 12, 1955 INVENTOR Jo/m 12/01:

ATTORN Y Patented Feb. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE CABLE CLAMPApplication July 12, 1935, Serial No. 30,989

12 Claims. (01. 24-135) This invention relates to clamps for holdingelectrical conductors or other flexible strands, and has for one of itsobjects the provision of a conductor clamp which 'shall be light andstrong and which shall effectively grip the conductor so as to utilizethe maximum strength of the conduct'or.

A further object of the invention is to provide a conductor clamp whichis adaptable to conductors of Various sizes and'which will effectivelyhold the different sized conductors.

A further object of the invention is to provide a clamp which isconvenient to install, economical to manufacture and efl'icient inoperation.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description.7

The invention is exemplified by the combination and arrangement of partsshown in the accompanying drawing and described in the followingspecification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a conductor clamp embodying one form ofthe present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view looking in the direction of the arrows 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view looking in the direction of the arrows 33of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section on line l4 of Fig. 3.

The numeral Ill designates generally the main body of the clamp having acurved conductor seat I I which is V-shaped in cross section and whichgradually increases in curvature from the point of entrance of the tautend of the cable at I2 to the exit point of the slack end at I3. Theseat II lies in the plane of the cable from the entrance point I2 to apoint I4, at which point the seat curves laterally as indicated by theline I5 in Fig. 3. The seat I5, as will be seen from this figure, curvesfirst to one side and then back to the original plane of the cable. Akeeper piece I6 is provided with a convexly curved seat portion I! whichcooperates with the seat portion I5. The seat portions I5 and I! areboth grooved in cross section, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to grip thecable. The keeper I6 is provided with two grooves I1 and I9 at oppositesides thereof. The keeper I6 may be reversed by swinging it about itsclamping bolt 2|! so as to bring either of the grooves I! or I9 intoregistration with the groove I5. Both of these grooves are curvedlongitudinally, as shown in Fig. 3, to conform to the curvature of theseat I5. The groove I1 is formed in the top of a ridge on the keeper I6so that it may cooperate closely with the groove I5, as shown in Fig. 4.

The body portion of the clamp is provided with a fulcrum 2| at the sideof the bolt 2|! opposite from the groove I5 so that when the nut 22 is 5screwed down on the bolt 26 the keeper piece will swing about thefulcrum 2| to clamp the cable against the seat I5. The bearing for thenut 22 is slightly rounded, as shown at 23, to permit the nut toaccommodate itself to various positions of the keeper I6 upon itsfulcrum 2|. The bolt 28 fits sufficiently loosely in the opening throughthe keeper I6 to permit the keeper to rotate upon its fulcrum 2| asuflicient distance to grip conductors of various sizes against the seatI5. For larger sized conductors the seat I9 is moved into registrationwith the seat I5 and for smaller sized conductors the seat I! cooperateswith the seat I5, as shown in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 2 the keeper is in a reversed position from that of Fig. 4 withthe larger groove I9 in registration with the groove I5. The lateralcurvature in the clamping seat for the cable provides a. continuation ofthe snubbing action of the seat II entirely through to the exit end ofthe cable seat and thus supplements the gripping action of the keeperpiece I6 in'holding the end of the cable. By utilizing the gripping seatcurved laterally out of the plane of the cable and then back into theplane, the loose end of the cable 30 is directed to one side of theplane of the cable without producing a turning moment on the cableclamp, as is the case where the cable is spirally wound on a drum or thecable seat is given a spiral form to throw the loose end to one side ofthe plane passing through the taut end of the cable.

By providing a keeper piece having a fulcrum at one side of the clampingbolt and a clamping groove at the other, a single clamping bolt can beused passing through an intermediate opening. This is a much simplerconstruction than an arrangement in which the clamping piece is held onby U-bolts or J -bolts because in the arrangement shown a standardsquare shank bolt can be used which is much cheaper than'speciallyformed U- bolts or J-bolts. Furthermore, a simpler keeper piece isprovided which can be readily reversed so that cables of a larger rangeof diameters can be held by the same clamp. It is unnecessary toseparate entirely the parts of the clamp in order to reverse the keeperpiece. All that is required is to back the nut off a short distance andthen the keeper piece can be rotated to bring either of its gripperseats into registration with the clamp seat.

The V-groove in the clamp body will of course accommodate cables of alarge range of diameter. The seat I5 is made large enough for thelargest cable for which the device is designed and the notch I1 in thekeeper piece can be brought close to the central portion of the seat 15because of the ridge upon which the notch I1 is mounted, the ridge beingsuiliciently narrow to extend partially into the notch IS. The clamp maybe secured to a suitable support by means of ears 24 and a pin 25.

The parts may be made of malleable iron and are readily cast withoutextensive or difficult coring operations. No machining is required andthe clamping bolt being of standard form may be purchased on the marketvery cheaply so that the entire device is very economical to manufactureand is light and strong and of substantially universal application tocables of a considerable range in size.

I claim:

1. A clamp for holding a loaded cable and for receiving the force of theload thereon so that the portion of the cable extending from said clampat one side thereof will be drawn taut by the load and the other end ofthe cable will be slack, said clamp having a seat of graduallyincreasing curvature from the taut end of the cable toward the slack endthereof, a portion of said seat being co-planar with the taut end of thecable held thereby while another portion of said seat is curvedlaterally out of the plane defined by the taut end of the cable and thefirst mentioned portion of said seat, said laterally curved portionlying in a plane substantially normal to said first named plane.

2. A clamp for holding a loaded cable and for receiving the force of theload thereon so that the portion of the cable extending from said clampat one side thereof will be drawn taut by the load and the other end ofthe cable will be slack, said clamp having a seat of graduallyincreasing curvature from the taut end of the cable toward the slack endthereof, a portion of said seat being co-planar with the taut end of thecable held thereby while another portion of said seat is curvedlaterally out of the plane defined by the taut end of the cable and thefirst mentioned portion of said seat, said laterally curved portionlying in a plane substantially normal to said first named plane and akeeper cooperating with said laterally curved portion of said seat forgripping the cable adjacent its slack end.

3. A clamp for holding a loaded cable and for receiving the force of theload thereon so that the portion of the cable extending from said clampat one side thereof will be drawn taut by the load and the other end ofthe cable will be slack, said clamp having a curved seat about which thecable is directed, a portion of said seat being co-planar with the tautend of the cable while another portion of said seat curves laterally toone side of the plane defined by said first named portion and backsubstantially into said plane, and means cooperating with said laterallycurved portion for gripping the cable adjacent its slack end.

4. A clamp for holding a loaded cable and for receiving the force of theload thereon so that the portion of the cable extending from said clampat one sidethereof will be drawn'taut by the load and the other end ofthe cable will be slack, said clamp comprising a curved seat forreceiving a cable, a portion of said seat being co-planar with the tautend of the cable and another portion of said seat being curved laterallyrelative to the plane of said first named portion in an arc, the ends ofwhich are substantially in said plane, and a keeper cooperating withsaid laterally curved portion for gripping the cable adjacent its slackend.

5. A clamp for holding a loaded cable and for receiving the force of theload thereon so that the portion of the cable extending from said clampat one side thereof will be drawn taut by the load and the other end ofthe cable will be slack, said clamp having a cable seat thereon whichincreases in curvature from the taut end of the cable toward the slackend thereof, said seat having a laterally curved portion adjacent theslack end of the cable said laterally curved portion lying in a planetransverse to the plane of the remaining portion of said seat.

6. A cable clamp having a seat for receiving the cable, a portion ofsaid seat being curved and having a radial bearing for said cable andanother portion of said seat being curved in a plane transverse to theplane of said first named portion and having a lateral bearing for thecable, and a keeper for gripping the cable against said lateral bearingportion.

'7. A cable clamp having a curved radially bearing seat, the curvatureof which gradually increases from its entrance portion, said seat alsohaving a laterally bearing portion adjacent the slack end of the cable,said laterally bearing portion being curved laterally away from theplane of said radially bearing portion and lying in a plane transverseto the plane of said radially bearing portion, and a keeper for pressingthe cable against said laterally bearing portion.

8. A clamp for holding a loaded cable and for receiving the force of theload thereon so that the portion of the cable extending from said clampat one side thereof will be drawn taut by the load and the other end ofthe cable will beslack, said clamp having a curved, radially bearingseat portion of increasing curvature from the taut end of the cabletoward the slack end thereof, and a laterally bearing seat portionadjacent the slack end of the cable, said laterally bearing seat portionbeing curved in an arc, the plane of which is transverse to the plane ofsaid radially bearing portion and the ends of which lie substantially inthe plane of said radially bearing portion while the central portion isdisplaced from said plane, and a keeper for gripping the cable againstsaid laterally bearing portion.

9. A cable clamp comprising a curved radially bearing seat portion and alaterally bearing seat portion, a keeper for gripping the cable againstsaid laterally bearing seat portion, a fulcrum for said keeper displacedfrom said laterally bearing seat portion, and a bolt extending in adirection transverse to the plane of said curved radially bearing seatportion through said keeper between said fulcrum and said laterallybearing seat portion for pressing said keeper toward said laterallybearing seat portion for exerting pressure on a cable in said laterallybearing seat portion in a direction transverse to the plane of saidcurved radially bearing seat portion.

10. A cable clamp comprising a snubbing seat and a gripping seat, saidgripping seat having a bearing face disposed at one side of the plane ofsaid snubbing seat and a reversible gripper having cable engagingportions at opposite sides thereof, a boltextending through said gripperfor selectively holding either of said cable engaging portions inregistration with said gripper seat, .and a fulcrum for supporting thecable engaging portion of said gripper not cooperating with said cableengaging seat.

11. A cable clamp comprising a snubbing seat, a keeper for holding acable in said seat, said keeper having a pair of spaced cable engaginggrooves of different sizes to fit different size cables, at fulcrum forsaid keeper spaced away from said cable seat, and gripping means forpressing said keeper toward said seat and fulcrum, said gripper meanscooperating with said clamp between said seat and fulcrum and with saidkeeper between said grooves, said keeper being reversible to bringeither cable engaging groove into registration with said seat while theother cable engaging groove registers with said fulcrum.

12. A cable clamp comprising a main body portion having a longitudinallycurved cable seat thereon, a keeper plate for gripping a cable in saidseat, said keeper plate having spaced longitudinally curved cableengaging grooves of different sizes at the opposite edges thereof, afulcrum on said body portion spaced from said seat for supporting saidkeeper plate, and a bolt extending through said body portion betweensaid seat and fulcrum and through said keeper plate between said groovesfor pressing said keeper plate toward said body portion, said keeperplate being reversible to bring either groove thereon into registrationwith said seat while the other groove engages said fulcrum.

JOHN J. TAYLOR.

